Rights and Wrongs

India should take an unequivocal stand against the resolution being backed by the US to condemn Sri Lanka.

The RSS weekly,Organiser,has taken a strong stand on the resolution against Sri Lanka being moved at the United Nations Human Rights Council,saying India should not support this US-sponsored resolution.

The lead editorial contends that the United States,whose track record is pathetic when it comes to human rights violations,now wants to intervene because it will open up the possibility of a similar role in India,which faces internal problems in Kashmir and the Northeast,from Naxalites and Islamic extremists,and has had to deal with campaigns led by so-called human rights activists.

India should take an unequivocal stand against the resolution being backed by the US to condemn Sri Lanka. If India baulks today and adopts a neutral position,it would find itself in the dock one day. India,by its geopolitical position,must take a robust stand against the West interfering in issues not concerning them directly, says the Organiser. There is no case for the US or any of the European nations to dictate to a democratically elected government or try to humiliate it in a world forum that belongs as much to us as it does to them, it says. The RSS stand,significantly,is at variance with that of the BJP,which has supported the UNHRC resolution.

Two years after the civil war in Sri Lanka ended with the decimation of the terrorist outfit LTTE,the United States of America is poking around the scab to reopen healing wounds. What else could be the intention of the resolution being moved by it at the UNHR Council session? asks the Organiser.

It says that the LTTE was no hapless,unarmed group of peaceful activists,but well-trained cadres,armed to the teeth with the latest machine guns,rocket launchers and tanks. The last few weeks of war that are under scrutiny now,witnessed a pitched battle in which both sides killed and got killed unrestrained. The number of child-soldiers Prabhakaran recruited and trained has not been documented. Boys and girls were picked at an unsuspecting age,fed on a liberal dose of LTTE literature enumerating the torture and humiliation of the Tamils by the Lankans and were prepared to fight on the command of well-structured LTTE army. Several thousands of Tamils were killed by LTTE cadres for defying the leadership. But the US or any other nation did not raise the issue of war crimes then, says the Organiser.

IT TAKES A VILLAGE

AFTER a considerable gap,the Organiser carries an article lauding the efforts of former BJP ideologue and RSS pracharak K.N. Govindacharya demanding that 7 per cent of the Union budget be allotted to gram panchayats for development. Govindacharya,who has been in self-imposed exile from the BJP for the last 12 years,had recently staged a three-day dharna at Jantar Mantar. He has argued that since 70 per cent of the population lives in villages,the demand for granting 7 per cent of the total budget for their development is justified. In the year 2011-2012,the Union budget was of Rs 12 lakh crore and there are 2.5 lakh gram panchayats in the country. By this calculation,every village will get Rs 30 lakh that will increase year by year. According to the people engaged in rural development activities,this financial support is sufficient to rejuvenate the villages Govindacharya told the Organiser.

DISASTER ON WHEELS

THE Panchjanya editorial makes a scathing comment on the railway budget and its steep fare hikes,moved by then railway minister Dinesh Trivedi and the politics behind Mukul Roy replacing him. Instead of discussing the impact of the budget and the fare hikes,the UPA leadership had to firefight the political crisis,following TMC chief Mamata Banerjees diktat that the anti-aam admi minister must go,says the Panchjanya. The crisis showed once again the disunity within the UPA and the helplessness of the prime minister,who has had to comply with the wishes of alliance partners. How can such a weak prime minister and this government leading the country work for the good of the people? says the Panchjanya. It adds Mamata Banerjee herself never did much as railway minister,being more engaged with West Bengal politics.

The Panchjanya maintains that Indian Railways has always been the biggest victim of politics,with ministers using it to fulfil their regional aspirations and politics. It says the prime minister has again chosen to remain silent,giving into coalition compulsions,letting the railways become a pawn in the hands of a single Mamata Banerjee. A few days ago,Dinesh Trivedi had said that if real change is to brought in the railways,it should be separated from politics and run in a professional manner. The attempt to do this probably cost Trivedi his job,says the Panchjanya.